TOULOUSE: ONE HUNDRED MINORS HAVE BEEN SLEEPING ON THE STREET FOR MORE THAN A WEEK
A hundred unaccompanied minors have been sleeping rough in Toulouse for more than a week
On Friday August 26, 2022 in the early morning, around a hundred unaccompanied foreign minors were evicted from accommodation made available by the town hall of Toulouse in the former EHPAD des Tourelles. Since then, they have camped in the street on the Allées Jules Guesde near the Palais de Justice.
How did we come to this? These young people are foreign children, traveling alone or with others but without any family. At the beginning of 2022, the town hall of Toulouse abruptly put an end to the accommodation of these young people by asking the administrative court for their expulsion from the premises it had made available. In May 2022, the court ordered the eviction of the building on the condition that these young people could be directed to suitable accommodation arrangements.
It is clear that this orientation has not been carried out and that no accommodation has been offered to them since their expulsion. This situation is unacceptable. Some of these young people have gone back to school, others will do so soon.
La Cimade [1]denounces the scandalous situation of most unaccompanied foreign minors in France. Reminders that the reception and care of unaccompanied minors on French territory are compulsory in accordance with national law and the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. Or their support is largely failing with an unreliable process for assessing their minority, an almost systematic questioning of their identity documents, and too often limited support. When they are not considered as minors by the services of the Departmental Council or by associations mandated to carry out this assessment, they have the right to appeal to the court. When these appeals are made in Toulouse, the vast majority of these young people are recognized as minors by the courts. However, during the duration of the appeals, which can take several months, nothing is planned to support them and at least to protect them.
La Cimade shows its solidarity with these young people and with the collectives, associations and lawyers who defend them to assert their rights. We cannot accept that in our city, these young people sleep on the streets.
[1] https://www.lacimade.org/nos-actions/mineurs-isoles/
Author: South West Region